CULTURE

Footer Column 2

Footer Legal

Footer Main

Nav Bar

OTHER

SPORTS

Subscribe, at any level, to play

Thanks for your interest in Defector Crosswords!

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

Plans start at $8/month.

Subscribers enjoy unlimited, ad-free browsing.

Register to continue

Or click here to subscribe for unlimited, ad-free access!

Our gift to you: This year's post is unlocked. Register your email to get even more free articles.

Welcome to the 2025 Hater's Guide!

Just register your email:

This blog is free to read.

This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

Defector

Giri Nathan

Alexander Zverev competes in an Australian Open match

Tennis

Alexander Zverev’s Upcoming Trial Looms Over His Recent Success

Patrick Redford

Handball referees Marcus Helbig (l) and Lars Geipel show the new blue cards in Leipzig, Germany, 1 August 2016. The two will be refereeing at the Olympic games for the second time. PHOTO: JAN WOITAS/DPA | usage worldwide (Photo by Jan Woitas/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Soccer

Soccer’s Rulemakers Are Rolling Out Blue Cards

<div id="1695913206.579009" class="c-virtual_list__item c-virtual_list__item--initial-activeitem" role="listitem" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1695913206.579009">
<div class="c-message_kit__background c-message_kit__background--hovered p-message_pane_message__message c-message_kit__message" role="presentation" data-qa="message_container" data-qa-unprocessed="false" data-qa-placeholder="false">
<div class="c-message_kit__hover c-message_kit__hover--hovered" role="document" data-qa-hover="true">
<div class="c-message_kit__actions c-message_kit__actions--above">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter c-message_kit__gutter--compact">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter__right" role="presentation" data-qa="message_content">
<div class="c-message_kit__indent">
<div class="c-message_kit__blocks c-message_kit__blocks--rich_text c-message_kit__blocks--inline">
<div class="c-message__message_blocks c-message__message_blocks--rich_text c-message__message_blocks--inline" data-qa="message-text">
<div class="p-block_kit_renderer p-block_kit_renderer--inline" data-qa="block-kit-renderer">
<div class="p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper--first">
<div class="p-rich_text_block p-rich_text_block--inline" dir="auto">
<div class="p-rich_text_section">Tom Scocca is the editor of <a href="http://indignity.net">Indignity</a>, a subscription-supported newsletter of news, essays, and commentary.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="1695913224.677889" class="c-virtual_list__item" role="listitem" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1695913224.677889">
<div class="c-message_kit__background p-message_pane_message__message c-message_kit__message" role="presentation" data-qa="message_container" data-qa-unprocessed="false" data-qa-placeholder="false">
<div class="c-message_kit__hover" role="document" data-qa-hover="true">
<div class="c-message_kit__actions c-message_kit__actions--above">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter c-message_kit__gutter--compact">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter__left" role="presentation"></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>


Tom Scocca

CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 06: Migrants cross the border to USA through Gate 36 and to be received by elements of the Border Patrol and the Texas National Guard for the processing of their request to migrate, captured from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on February 06, 2024.

Margin Of Error

The Crisis Keeps Migrating


<p>charismatic megafauna (they/them)</p>


Sabrina Imbler

a photo of a lobster named Currant, a split blue lobster

Creaturefector

Meet The Eight Celebrity Lobsters Of Biddeford, Maine

<p>Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including <em>Point B</em>. Handsomest man in the world.</p>


Drew Magary

BALTIMORE, MD - JANUARY 28: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs walks out for warmups prior to the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&amp;T Bank Stadium on January 28, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)

Jamboroo

Patrick Mahomes Owns The NFL

David Roth

Travis Kelce faces the media during Super Bowl Media Days in the lead up to Super Bowl LVIII. It's pretty dramatically lit for something happening at a Westin in Henderson, Nevada.

Podcasts

Big Ideas And Big Novelty Slot Machines At The Super Bowl, With Matthew Coller

<p>Staff Writer</p>
<p>Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19</p>


Chris Thompson

Here Is An NBA Trade Deadline Open Thread

Ray Ratto

TORONTO, ONTARIO - FEBRUARY 02: Howler the Coyote of the Arizona Coyotes interacts with fans at the Mascot Skills Event at the 2024 Hyundai NHL All-Star Fan Fair at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on February 02, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Carlos Osorio/NHLI via Getty Images)

Does Anyone In Arizona Want The Coyotes?

Lauren Theisen

Jonathan Quick comes in to replace Igor Shesterkin

I Love This Goalie Controversy

Luis Paez-Pumar

Alan Wake in front of some form of supernatural tornado

Video Games

I’m Tired Of Being A Little Baby About Horror Games


<p>Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.</p>


Dan McQuade

Randy Moss speaks at his NFL Hall of Fame induction; his bust has been replaced with the head of Randy Moss the journalist

Journalismism

How To Tell Randy Moss From Randy Moss: A Defector Strategy Guide

<div dir="ltr">
<p>Mike Tanier has covered the NFL for 20 years for Football Outsiders, the New York Times, The Messenger, Bleacher Report, Sports on Earth, and other ancient empires. He&#8217;s a co-author of Aaron Schatz&#8217;s FTN Football Almanac and the author of the Y/A novel for grownups <i>Long Snapper&#8217;s Blues. </i>He lives off Exit 3 of the New Jersey Turnpike with his long-suffering wife, two sons and a 70-pound American Bully named Frank the Tank. <span style="font-weight: 400">His newsletter, <a href="https://too-deep-zone.ghost.io/">Too Deep Zone</a>, has officially launched.</span></p>
</div>


Mike Tanier

STILL LIFE OF SKELETON WRITING IN LARGE BOOK WITH QUILL PEN (Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images)

Three Newsrooms Imploded Around Me In Under A Year

Tom Ley

The OpenAI logo is being displayed on a smartphone, with the Microsoft logo visible on the screen in the background.

Semafor’s AI Partnership Is The Same Old Shit

Elias Lindholm celebrates with his teammates after a goal

It’s Canuck Time

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, seen doing a kind of triumphant here-I-am gesture at the opening of The Sphere in September of 2023.

Las Vegas Mayor To John Fisher: Maybe Try Staying In Oakland

Kathryn Xu

A Genshin Impact app by miHoYo Limited logo is seen displayed on a smartphone.

How To Win In Gacha Gaming

San Francisco Ballet in Aszure Barton and Sam Shepherd's Mere Mortals // © Chris Hardy. Dancers flank Prometheus as he gears up to steal fire from the gods.

Arts And Culture

Maybe It’s Not So Bad Being ‘Mere Mortals’

Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner attends the Team Principals Press Conference during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Mexico at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on October 27, 2023 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Racing

Red Bull Boss Christian Horner Under Investigation For Alleged Misconduct Toward Team Employee


<p>Diana Moskovitz is Defector&#8217;s investigations editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99</p>


Diana Moskovitz

London Police Service Chief Thai Troung, center, and Detective Sgt. Katherine Dann of Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Section hold a press conference in London, Ontario, on February 5, 2024.

It’s Hockey’s Turn To Reckon With Sexual Violence

Must Klay Thompson Travel Far And Wide ‘Til He Is Beside Someone Who Is Not Draymond Green?

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 05: Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers (L) and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs stand on stage during Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night at Allegiant Stadium on February 05, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images)

Funbag

There’s No Such Thing As A System Quarterback

Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Brent Suter high fives fans as he walks around the field with players to end their season at Coors Field on October 1, 2023 in Denver, Colorado.

It’s Time To Fixate On How Your Favorite Baseball Team Will Disappoint You

Barry Petchesky

05 February 2024, Saxony-Anhalt, Halberstadt: A sheet of music from the piece "ORGAN2/ASLSP" by John Cage lies in front of the organ in the Burchardi Church before the start of the sound change. After two years, the sound of the slowest piece of music in the world, performed in Halberstadt in the Harz Mountains, has changed for the 16th time. On Monday, the 639-year organ piece ORGAN²/ASLSP ("As SLow aS Possible") by artist John Cage (1912-1992) underwent a sound change. This means that the six-sound piece that has been played in the Burchardi Church since February 2022 has become a seven-sound piece. Photo: Matthias Bein/dpa (Photo by Matthias Bein/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The Song Goes On Even If We Don’t

Phil Foden of Manchester City celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Manchester City at Brentford Community Stadium on February 05, 2024 in Brentford, England.

Manchester City Is Ready To Pounce

Samer Kalaf

Thomas Friedman of the New York Times doing a PBS interview